Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Smiths W10 Military, 1969
- Maker / attribution
- Smiths (maker)
- Date
- 1969
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 35 mm
- Stock no.
- Product 4582466224215
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, S.Song Watches (product 4582466224215)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Smiths W10 Military (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by S.Song Watches (dealer), Seattle (stock number Product 4582466224215), this is a wristwatch by Smiths, made in England, dated 1969. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 35 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — S.Song Watches
I have always found that the best design often comes from utility and perhaps that is why my love for vintage watches began in military pieces. All military watches had three main requirements, to be durable, functional and legible. As a result, to most, all military watches look the same. For me though, it is all the little details that make military so fun and interesting. The Smiths W10 was issued to the British Army in the late 60’s and made for general service. Sized at 35mm and housed in a stainless steel case, the W10 features long lugs and a six-notch screw down caseback. It has a classic military matte black dial with Arabic numerals and a broadarrow, signifying that it was property of the crown. With military engravings on the back, the serial number is located at the bottom followed by the year it was produced. In this case, it was made in 1968. One of the distinctive features of the Smiths W10, is that while nearly all of the watches commissioned by the British came from Switzerland, this was made in England, as denoted by the text at the bottom of the dial. Not only that, the W10 is powered by the Cal. 60466E, a high quality, in-house British movement that features a hacking mechanism and an overcoil hairspring.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Military, pilot and travel watches
The wristwatch owes much of its adoption by men to warfare and aviation. Wristlets — small pocket watches soldered with lugs and worn on a strap — were used in colonial campaigns and became standard equipment in the First World War, with protective grilles over the crystal ('shrapnel guards'). Louis Cartier's Santos (1904), designed for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, is often cited as an early purpose-made pilot's watch.
In the Second World War governments specified watches in detail: the German B-Uhr observation watches, the American A-11, and the British 'W.W.W.' (the 'Dirty Dozen' set of 1945). After the war, jet travel brought GMT and world-time watches, which show two or more time zones at once — Louis Cottier's world-time mechanism and the Rolex GMT-Master (1955) are examples.
What to look for
- Military markings on the case back: broad arrow, issue numbers, 'W.W.W.', 'A.T.P.'
- High-legibility black dials with luminous Arabic numerals; oversized crowns for gloved hands.
- 24-hour hands and rotating 24-hour bezels or city rings on GMT/world-time watches.
- Wire lugs on early wristlets converted from pocket watches.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug wristlets: c. 1900–1925.
- Military specifications of the Second World War: 1939–1945.
- GMT and world-time wristwatches: mainly after 1950.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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